In Part 1 of this article, we looked at St. Jerome’s fourth century misleading translation into Latin of Jesus’ word ‘Metanoeite’ in Mark 1:15.

We learned that:

• Jerome’s Latin word for Jesus’ Metanoeite, (‘Repent’ in our English translation) suggests, incorrectly, that Jesus intends us to ‘do’ penance when we sin

• This negative inference has skewed our understanding of what Jesus actually means by repentance

• Instead, Jesus intends your repentance to create a process of ongoing internal change within you, so that you:

 

1. ‘think differently’( i. e. change your mind and heart)

2. ‘entrust yourself’ (i. e. surrender yourself) to the truly GOOD AND HEALING news of Jesus’ gospel message

• Each time you repent, the Holy Spirit re-initiates this process of internal change within you

• Jesus therefore desires for you an inner transformation, NOT a mere change in your external behaviour

• God ALWAYS forgives you as soon as you ask Him 

• You must NEVER think that you have to ‘fix’ your mistakes before you can approach Jesus for forgiveness 

• You can’t FULLY understand what sin actually is unless you can REGULARLY EXPERIENCE God’s completely unconditional LOVE for you just as you are —warts, weaknesses, sins and all!

• When you ask Jesus’ forgiveness, you fall into the arms of your loving ABBA/DADDY/FATHER who is waiting and longing to

LOVE on you

SMILE at you

ENCOURAGE you

INSPIRE you to keep going on your journey 

 … And DEFINITELY NOT waiting to beat up on you!

This ongoing returning to Jesus, i.e. your repeated surrender to God’s love and care, is the sole object of your Christian journey. And it is the sole goal of the Gospel, Jesus’ message of good news.

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You Need to See Repentance in the Much Wider Context of Jesus’ Entire Message of

Good News

 

In this second Part of my article, I want to place repentance in its larger context, the context of the Good News as a whole.

You see, it’s only when you see repentance in its much wider context of Jesus’ overall gospel message, that you can correctly and fully understand Jesus’ words, ‘Repent and believe the good news’ (Mark 1:15 NIV).

In other words, you cannot treat Jesus’ message of repentance as a teaching that’s independent of all the other parts of His message.

The Actual Ongoing Process of Transformation

It bears repeating again: An ongoing returning to Jesus, i.e. your repeated surrender to God’s love and care, is the sole object of your Christian journey.

And it is the sole goal of the Gospel, of Jesus’ message of good news

Now, just as we did with ‘repentance’, let’s put this ‘ongoing transformation’ topic into its much wider context.

The first thing to know is that God is creating you all the time.

He never stops creating you!

How is He creating you?

What specifically is He creating in you?

God is developing His image within you, just as a photographer develops the negative of his photograph.

You see, it’s easy sometimes to forget that the sole goal of your journey and friendship with Jesus is to become transformed into His image.

So to help you remind yourself of this pivotal fact, take a minute to reflect on the following scriptures:

For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son …

Romans 8:29 NIV

 

And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 3:18 NIV

 

…you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its creator.

Colossians 3: 9 – 10, English Standard Version

Do you see how repentance, understood correctly, fits right into this ongoing process of spiritual transformation into God’s image?

In other words, one of the ways the Lord initiates and supports this process is to help you to become aware of your sins, of the times you ‘miss the mark’.

Why?

So that you can turn back to Him and seek His healing, TRANSFORMING love!

Why?

So that you can be transformed into His image.

You see, what the disciple John said is absolutely true: God IS love.

God is love, and the man whose life is lived in love does, in fact, live in God, and God does, in fact, live in him.

J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)

You and I are transformed by continually experiencing the Lord’s Love.

It is this ongoing experience of LOVE that heals you and me when we ‘miss the mark’.

This process is never complete until the moment of your death.

Your ‘False Self’:

Your Small-Child Need for Security, Control, Approval

Let me explain now yet another part (!) of the larger context of the Good News.

There’s a specific aspect of repentance that you might well miss out on simply because you have never been taught about it or made aware of it: namely, your false self.

You can learn more about your false self here. 

When you understand your false self —what it is, how it functions, and the effect it has on your relationship with the Lord —you will finally understand a main source of your sins.

When you do, you won’t see repentance as a threat to be feared but as a friend to be welcomed as you continue on your journey hand-in-hand with the Lord.

When you understand your false self as a main SOURCE of your sins, you won’t see repentance as a threat to be feared but as a friend to be welcomed as you continue on your journey hand-in-hand with the Lord.

What Exactly is your ‘False’ Self?

What exactly then is your ‘false’ self?

It is part of your ‘fallen’ human condition (sometimes called your ‘fallen’ human nature).

It is the part of you that keeps disposing you to sin even when you might not want or intend to.

Don’t worry. This happens not just with you. Paul the Apostle, a very holy man, experienced exactly the same frustration:

…I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.

Romans 7:15 English Standard Version

Our false self is the part of each one of us that is not yet subject to God’s healing transforming LOVE.

Your false self has existed in you from your very early childhood.

It has played an important role in your childhood development by protecting you from a threatening outer world.

As very small children, you and I adopted specific ways of ensuring our

• Security from perceived threat
• Control of our outer world
• Approval of others

The world appears very threatening to all children.

As a child, however, you are obviously not aware of this part of you.

Usually, you’re not aware of a ‘false’ self existing deep within you until some unexpected event or problem arises in your adult life demanding your full attention.

It’s at this point that you become aware that your false self is no longer equipped to provide you with protection; and that, far from a protection, has in fact become a dangerous liability to your continued wellbeing.

You discover that it now poses a real threat to

• Your acceptance and love of yourself 

• Your ongoing relationship and journey with God 

• Your relationship with everyone else —your spouse, children, extended family, work colleagues, friends, faith congregation, and neighbours

• Your ongoing maturing in the faith

• Your overall wellbeing in mind, body, and spirit

Because your false self has been your protector for so many years, it is

• Very deeply rooted
• Easily threatened
• Fiercely defensive

So when you try to change your direction (i. e. ‘repent’) and follow Christ’s path of Good News, it kicks up a big fuss.

It will defend itself at almost any cost.

And here’s the thing:

If you try to control the false self using your own human means, you will fail.

Only God himself can dismantle your false self.

This is why you require the Lord’s ready help now.

The 2 Steps You Need to Take Now

Recognition and awareness of your false self is the first step to healing it.

And you can only become truly aware of your false self if you have a regular practice of entering into God’s presence for a few minutes each day.

It is in God’s presence that you are able to, directly and firsthand, receive His LOVE for you.

And it is in only the light of your regular experience and reception of the Lord’s love that you are able to uncover and recognize the shadow part of yourself, your false self.

The second step for healing your false self involves exactly the same process: i. e. knowing how to enter into the Lord’s presence so that you can experience His healing LOVE —firsthand, directly, for yourself, whenever you want or need it.

Only God himself, by showering you with His ongoing love, can dismantle your false self.

It is extremely important to remember this.

Your role is to cooperate with God by opening yourself for a few minutes each day to His love!

Note

Dismantling takes time.

But the great news is that the dismantling process starts from the very first moment that you enter into God’s healing presence.

In time, the Lord’s time, you will look back and realize that you are being healed from an enormous weight on your back, i. e. your false self and the sin to which it disposes you.

This is why it’s vital, in times of sin, that you return to the Lord, i. e. repent.

In this way, you assure yourself not just of His forgiveness but of His actual HEALING LOVE!

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Are you starting to see that repentance is never a threat but an opportunity to allow the Lord to continue His ongoing transformation within you? 

If you are, you have made huge strides in your ongoing journey with the Lord. Keep up the good work!

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Listen to this song, Come Back to Me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FB0TWvag_Ic

Watch out for the final Part of this article coming in 2 weeks.

Want more help? Keep your eyes open for my teaching webinar coming up in 2 months.